


Catherine Wheel

by Megane



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bonding, Climbing, Fire, Fireworks, Nighttime, Other, Reflection, Stargazing, Sweet, Trespassing, admiring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-11
Updated: 2016-03-11
Packaged: 2018-05-26 01:36:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6218482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megane/pseuds/Megane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hisoka and Chrollo spend a night together. Chrollo was taken by the dazzling lights, and Hisoka admired their display of innocence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Catherine Wheel

     “Hisoka, wait.”

There was laughter up ahead. Chrollo lifted their head and saw Hisoka disappearing over the top of the hill. They dug their gloved fingers into the earth as they climbed the steep incline behind him. Gravel shifted under their feet, but their footing was pretty solid.

     “Hisoka.” An exasperated sigh. “You're moving too fast.”

  
Useless. It wasn't as if Hisoka was listening to them anyway. It was good that he had all the stuff with him. If the hill wasn't so steep, Chrollo would have turned around and went back to the car. Chrollo continued climbing, breathing steadily through their nose. When they reached the top, they stood up to their full height and dusted off their hands. They chanced a step forward. Gravity threatened to pull them backwards and waste all of their effort. A huffed curse, and Chrollo flung their arms out. They felt felt a hand around their right wrist and looked up to see Hisoka. He smiled at them and tugged them up to the top of the hill alongside him.

     “Don't get clumsy now,” Hisoka teased when he let go.

     “Hush,” Chrollo chastised, looking over their shoulder down the dark hill.

Hisoka merely smiled and drew away. Chrollo turned their head and followed after him. He had set their bags down between two rows of in-ground lights. Chrollo stared down at the lights and noticed that only a few of them were working. Most of them, poorly so. They toed at a light with a dying bulb. The faceted plastic of the light protested softly under the gentle nudges. Cheaply made, but Chrollo wasn't surprised. Meteor Park wasn't exactly known for its shiny presentation.

     Hisoka squatted down beside a tote bag and unzipped it. “Are you ready for this?” Hisoka asked.

     Chrollo made a noise of acknowledgement. “Better be worth it.”

     Hisoka clicked his tongue and reached within the bag. “You should know me better than that, Chrollo.”

As he spoke, he began pulling out water bottles. He set aside four and held up one for Chrollo. They took the extended item, and Hisoka pulled out one more for himself. Chrollo weighed the bottle with their hand, treating it much like a weight. As Hisoka stood up, he gestured out a square shape around them.

     “Let's get this area–” He gestured out a line going perpendicular to the square, “and this area wet.”

Chrollo nodded and uncapped their bottle as well. It was a bit difficult with their gloves on, but the cap unscrewed all the same. They tipped their bottle and shook out water over the earth. They doubled back for another one before their first one was completely empty and continued about their task. Chrollo paused and looked at the first water. There was about half an inch of water left inside. They glanced over to Hisoka.

He was still minding his own business, making sure the indicated area was covered in wet earth. Chrollo smiled and reached their arm out, flicking the remaining water at Hisoka. Caught off guard, Hisoka flinched at the contact, but when he looked back to Chrollo, he merely smiled over at them. He squeezed his bottle of water in their direction, but Chrollo dodged out of the way. Hisoka merely laughed and went back to what he was doing. It wasn't long before they were both left holding a half a bottle of water. They placed their empty ones inside of the tote bag, and Hisoka reached over for the brown paper bag. He began laying out the items from within: three tufts of soot coloured wool and two sparklers.

Chrollo drew their legs up and rested their cheek against their knees. Hisoka's long fingers pulled out the items with each care, sometimes pausing to rub the wool remains from his fingers. When he reached up to pull something form his jacket's inner pocket, Chrollo lowered their gaze down to the sparklers leaning against their feet.

     “You do this much?” Chrollo asked softly. There was a beat of silence and they swayed gently in place. “Come up here and light up fireworks..?”

     “Not anymore,” Hisoka responded. He turned a crimson lighter in his hands. “Used to when I was younger.”

     “Why not?” Chrollo lifted up their head and rested their chin in the dip between their knees. Their gaze was hooded; they stared at the dim light.

     “Scheduling,” Hisoka said it with a laugh. “You become an adult and scheduling becomes an issue.”

Chrollo couldn't think of anything to add to that; they didn't really feel like they could relate. Most of their hobbies hadn't changed much since they were a kid though, and whatever other side interests they had were just added on as they grew up. But Hisoka was a different sort though. Maybe he wasn't as much of a free spirit as they thought. They glanced over to him, and he was already looking at them.

     “Want me to light yours?”

“Sure.” Chrollo uncurled from their position and reached out for the sparklers. Hisoka stood up, playfully grunting as they did. He swept his palm against his butt, and Chrollo followed suit. Hisoka flicked on his lighter and lit the sparklers for his friend.

Chrollo's black eyes danced with the lively sparks. They stepped away from Hisoka and stood between the lights. Chrollo laughed and lifted the sparklers over their head. The sparks flicked all around, bouncing against the night sky like caffeinated stars. Chrollo didn't realise it, but they were smiling. They twisted the sparklers in opposing directions, making the infinity symbol in front of their body. Hisoka watched with crossed arms, looking like a proud parent. Chrollo caught his gaze, and the tenderness of his smile was enough to make their face warm.

They brought their gaze back to the sparklers and stayed fascinated until the sparks died out. They swung the items by their thin sticks between their fingertips. With a heavy sigh, they crouched down to the ground and dabbed the sparklers into the wet earth. Hisoka leaned down and snatched up two of the wools. Chrollo dropped their spent sparklers into the paper bag when Hisoka spoke up:

     “Hey, light these for me?”

They turned their attention and followed after him as he walked to where they were previously standing. Hisoka uncurled his pinky and ring fingers, extending the lighter out to his companion. Chrollo took it from him, and for a brief second, they swore they saw embers in the wet grass. It was only a moment's hesitation before they focused on him again.

     “You're going to have to step back afterward,” Hisoka warned. “This gets really hot and hurts when it hits you.”

     “I've got a jacket on,” Chrollo said, flicking on the lighter.

     “Yeah, but I don't want to mar that pretty face of yours.”

Chrollo kept their gaze on the wire wool as they touched the flame to it and only offered up a soft “Hush” in response. Hisoka smiled but upnodded his chin towards their things when both wools were properly lit. Chrollo blew out the lighter's flame and crossed their arms. Hisoka turned his body to the side and began swinging the wire wools in opposite directions. Chrollo's eyes widened.

Bright embers flew from the wire wools, creating a beautiful spinning wheel of heat and light. Chrollo's lips parted slightly as they watched. They lifted their gaze up to the apex of the fire wheel before looking back to the flameless hole where Hisoka's hand was. It was breathtakingly beautiful — and unfortunately was over too soon. Hisoka slowed down his motions and glanced over his shoulder, making sure none of the grass was on fire. He looked to the burning remnants hanging from the grey wires they were connected to.

Chrollo practically jumped for one of the half bottles of water when Hisoka asked for it. They were still entranced by what he had spun before their very eyes. Some part of them wanted to thank him, but they weren't quite sure if that would be weird or not. For now, they held their tongue.

     “Want to try?” Hisoka asked, once the wool remains started to smoke.

     Chrollo nodded their head quickly. “Yes, please.”

     “I've got one more set out. Few others in there if you mess it up.”

Chrollo narrowed their eyes up at him, but Hisoka waved them off and stepped away. He placed the wet ones behind the tote bag before snatching up the other wire wool he had sitting on the ground. He walked over to Chrollo and stood behind them. He explained how to get the wheel going and told them a good distance to hold out their arm if they were afraid of getting burnt.

     “The faster you swing, the more it burns. Don't tire yourself out though. That's no fun.”

     “Sure, sure,” Chrollo replied softly, already mesmerised by the item in their hands.

Chrollo took a moment to stand as Hisoka did with their body turned to the side. They lit the soot-coloured wool and handed the lighter off to him. A pause. They sucked in their breath and spun the wool as Hisoka had advised. At first, their eyes were closed for a few seconds, but once they felt the rhythm of it, they opened their eyes to watch the twisting light. They felt the tension building quickly in their forearm and shoulder, but the wire wool was at its end very soon.

They knelt down to grab the bottle of water and doused the dying wool. The smoke lifting from it didn't smell too pleasant. They scrunched up their nose before going to set down the item where Hisoka placed the others. Hisoka followed after them, digging out another tuft of wire wool. With the lights, Chrollo could see that it was a rusty burgundy colour. They wondered if that would make any difference. They stood off to the side as Hisoka took his position. When he motioned for them to come closer, Chrollo blinked in confusion. “Just come stand in front of me. It'll be fine.”

Hm? Alright.

The wool was lit, and Hisoka was quick in spinning it above their heads. Above their heads! Chrollo gasped. Their doe like eyes widened as the sparks rained down around them. They didn't think about the grass or their things that might have gotten hit by the sparks. The newly coloured light streamed around them and rained down in an arc. Chrollo leaned their head back, peering up at the opening above their heads. They could make out the stationery stars in the sky. It was strange. The sparks flying their peripheral made the other stars look like they were falling. Chrollo brought their hands to Hisoka's waist and stared up at him. He was watching them, smiling at them. Chrollo could only wonder what he was thinking of.

After a few moments of maintained eye contact, Hisoka lifted his head and gave a few more twists of the rust tinted wool. When the lights began to dim, Chrollo felt a sinking feeling in their head. They were happy, but not quite satisfied. It must have shown on their face. Hisoka brought up a hand and cupped their chin.

     “I'm sure I have more than enough for a proper light show.”

     “Really?”

     Hisoka nodded his head. “Let's just say I'm making up for lost time, you know, being an adult.”

He chuckled softly and pulled away. Chrollo let him go and stared down at the ground. They brought their hands together, savouring the images that he let them witness. They rubbed their gloved hands together and tilted up their head, staring up at the stars. How strange…… They weren't as dazzling anymore.

     “Hisoka.”

     “Hm?” The taller male let out a noise behind them.

     Chrollo didn't turn around. “… Thank you.”

There was a heavy silence between them. Chrollo looked over their shoulder and saw that Hisoka had stopped moving. He had a tuft of wire wool in one hand, but he was staring up at the sky. Again, Chrollo wanted to know what was on his mind. Hisoka stood silently and looked over to Chrollo.

     “Let's just make this a night to remember, hm~? Here, step back. I've something else to show you.”

Chrollo nodded and collected up the spent wool and water bottle. They moved back to their bag. Hisoka wiggled a finger at them. “If that jacket has a hood, I would pull it up if I were you.” Chrollo raised their short brows as they deposited the items to the ground. Without a word, they tugged their hood over their head and stood up again once they were done. Hisoka lit the wire wool and twisted it around his body, forming an orb of light with him in the center of it.

Chrollo shrunk inside of their coat and backed away a bit, not wanting to catch a spark to their face. The further they got, the more they could appreciate the view. They wondered what he did to this one to make the light turn blue midway through. Chrollo made a soft noise, relaxing their posture as they watched. From within the heat sphere, Hisoka turned and bent the wire wool, even spinning himself with that graceful flair only he possessed.

The flames ate at the wool, and when it was finished, Hisoka swung the item behind his back. A wave of blue fire rolled across the earth behind him. The backlighting was stunning. Chrollo met Hisoka's gaze and quickly walked over to meet him. He placed a hand on their waist.

     “Ready for more?” He asked, gesturing to their bags with his other hand.

The night was still young, and Chrollo trusted Hisoka to keep them interested. Without hesitation, Chrollo nodded.

     “Of course.”


End file.
